Composite material for gears and the like



Patented Dec. 8 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS T. FREDERICK, OF VALPARAISO, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO FIIBItOG INSULATION COMPANY, OF VALPARAISO, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

', ooivrrosrrn MATERIAL 'ron GEARS AND THE LIKE.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern." Be it known that I, LoUIs T. FREDERICK,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Valparaiso, in the county of Porter and '5 State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Composite Materials for Gears and the like, of which the following is a specification.

Fiber gears are known -articles of commerce. Basically they consist of. bodies composed of fiber, either woven or unwoven, held together firmly and cut to form gears. The most common practice at the present time for holding the fiber together in a solid body is to impregnate it with a phenol resin or similarcondensation product which will harden under the action of heat 3 lie gears. Theoretically, gear teeth roll one on the other. Yet as a practical matter, on account of vibration, thrustand wear there is considerable rubbingyof surfaces and a constant wearing of the teeth. Synthetic I resins or condensates apparently have no characteristic of self-lubrication and the result is, as above stated,-that these fiber gears require lubrication in the samemam ner as ordinary metallic gears.

One .ob'ec-t of my invention is to provide gear material which will avoid the need of lubrication entirely or partially. -Another object of my invention is to provide a material of this nature which reduces thetenchined. v

I accomplish thesev objects by introducing use in practically the same manner as metal- 'dency to dull the tools by which it is mascribed my name.

Application filed January 26, 1924." Serial No. 688,865.

, grapfhite into the body of the gear material -itsel I have found that a remarkable lubricating effect is obtained without weakening the material by employing five per cent. by weight of It may be incorporated in dif-v graphite.

ferent ways but I have obtained excellent results by mixing the graphite with the resin solution, or varnish, which serves as a binder.

Another advantage of the material of my I invention is that in machining it reduces the tendency to dull the tools. Hard-er resins can therefore be used to an extent to improve the mechanical strength several thousand pounds per square inch.

Thus .the incorporation of the graphitev produces a gear which needs little or .no

lubrication under ordinary circumstances,.

hasless tendency to dull the tools by which it is machined and makes it practicable to employ a harder resin and obtain a product having greater mechanical stren th.

A desirab e gear material is o tained by causing it'to finally contain about 50% fibrous material, phenol resin, and 5% graphite. a

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Paten't is:

1. Aself-lubricating laminated composite .material of high mechanical strength and free from fus ble constituents comprising .woven fabric arranged in layers and impregnated with a phenolic condensation product capable of hardening under heat.

and pressure, andvgraphite incorporated in said material, and constituting not to exceed 5 per cent. of the totalweight of the material.-

2. A laminated com osite gear material "comprising woven fa ric about by weight,- condensation product about 45%,

and graphite about 5%..

In witness whereof, I have hereunto sub- LOUIS-T.'FREDER1QK. 

